Colruyt is considering selling French stores
© Photopqr/Le Dauphine/MaxppPP
The Colruyt Group is investigating « various strategic options » for its stores and gas stations in France. A sale is also possible, the group announced on Tuesday.
It is about the « French integrated retail activities » of the group from Halle. They include the Colruyt Prix Qualité stores and DATS 24 filling stations. « It is about around one hundred shops and about forty gas stations, » explains spokeswoman Hanne Poppe. Around 2,000 people work for those activities. They run a turnover of more than 700 million euros, according to the most recent annual report of the group.
The French market of the food stores is very competitive, says the group. She has been trying for some time to get the activities profitable, also with investments, but that has not yet yielded enough. « The activities are not yet profitable, » says Colruyt Group in a press release. « The stores have a positive contribution, but the activities lack scale to achieve sufficient purchasing power and to cover overhead and logistics costs. »
That is why it has been decided to investigate « different strategic options » for French activities. For a possible sale, the group says that there are already interested people. But a recovery plan, for example, is also possible. « No decision has been made yet and no guarantee can be given that a transaction will eventually take place, » it sounds.
The group adds that « she will do everything to safeguard the continuity of the activities and a maximum employment rate ».
Colruyt Group has been active in France since 1996. She has also had wholesale activities there since 2004 under the name Codifrance. They are not involved in the strategic thinking exercise.
